Mashable : Poll

Mashable have an interesting post on which sites pay the best. I have to say that from trying Metacafe, Revver and Blip TV, Revver has paid me over $800US. My clips aren't popular. I haven't received a cent from Metacafe and have only earnt .90c from Blip TV and obviously haven't received that.
In fairness to the above sites, I have only uploaded 5 videos to Metacafe and currently have only 3 on the site that are crawling along. I doubt that I will make it to their minimum views though, so am not bothering with it. I have 13 clips on Blip and haven't really put much time into it. I am intending to though, so I guess it will be fairer to assess Blip, when or if I put more effort into it.
I have put over 400 clips on Revver but very few of them have received more than 100 views. I have also been using Revver since March last year, but only tried Metacafe and Blip later in the year.
What the poll says about it being difficult to assess apples for apples as we used to say about quotes for curtains, is true. I guess it depends very much on individual needs. Their assessment is possibly only useful for a clip that is likely to get 10 000 views. Oh I wish!

Teenagers on Film

Watching "Little Miss Sunshine" tonight, the teenage son enters, Andy says "Why are there no pleasant teenagers in films?"

Fair comment. They are not represented well in the media. Teenagers that is. It is not accurate. Teenagers are great and I am obviously not one of them when I say that. Why is this? The stereotype of teenagers is not fair.

Overheard Conversation at School

Teacher: I saw this great poetry reading on Youtube last night and wish I could show you but Youtube is banned.
Student: Why don't you download it?
Teacher: You can't download from Youtube.
Student: Yes, you can, I'll show you.
Students walks over to teachers laptop, types in Keepvid then types in a file conversion site to convert from flv to playable files.
Teacher: Wow!
Student: So tomorrow you can show us the poem.
Teacher: Is it hard to come to school, drag yourself away from the Internet, when you are possibly learning less here.
Many Students Loudly: YES!

Clever

Imagine a world where healthy food was marketed as agressively as sugary and fattening rubbish food.
Imagine if creators could come from anywhere and be anyone and were invited directly to create and were selected by popularity on merit.
Imagine that!


The National Sunflower Association, and when I say National, I think it's American National we're talking about, is having a competition for video makers. The prize is $10 000 for the winning video.

More details at the website: Grab Em By The Sack

Tropfest - My Favourites

My favourite Tropfest film was "Between the Flags". I loved the humour of it and the underlying messages. It embraced Australian culture in good ways. The other film that made an impression was "Road Rage". It was too sad and then too funny. The one that haunted me was "Bad Yoghurt". It was gross, but the image remains.
Tropfest was good this year, even though I only saw it on a TV screen. "An Imaginary Life" was ok, but I wouldn't have given it the winner.

Best Part

I confess, I don't watch awards. I imagine this was the best part for anyone else who is like me. I am confident others will correct me if I am wrong.
It's like sport, I want to play it or leave it. I don't really want to watch, unless someone I dearly love is playing.
I'm not really interested in what other people award or think is great. I want to watch things for myself. I do seriously like this though.

"Precious Images by Chuck Workman. Oscar Winning Short. This is the greatest short film of all time. 7 minutes long - it's a movie montage of the greatest movies by Chuck Workman. It features 500 movie clips. At one point, it was the most seen short film in history (more)"

Digital Ethnography - Is .......

Wow!Rethink indeed.....

Comment Moderation

Comments are welcome on this blog. Unpaid advertising is not. I seem to have been getting a few comments lately that are so obviously link bait that even I, with my very unsavvy skills can recognise them. Such as the first comment on my previous post. Until this point, I haven't ever rejected a comment. From here on, I will be. I didn't even read that comment and I wish I had, because I would have deleted it too.

So cheapskate advertisers of things that serve no real purpose - Don't come here and comment, cause you'll be rejected.

Warning enough?

Good Magazine 2

This latest clip from Good Magazine is well put together. I really like the soundtrack also. It offers only information, no solutions.


What would you do about it indeed?

Good Magazine is a great source for news stories that are positive and uplifting usually. This one doesn't fall into that category, yet I imagine has a pure purpose and motivation.

Revver and Magnify Article - A must read

The Revver blog today has this article : Access the Frozen Knowledge of Video
posted by Micki, that refers to Magnify's Steve Rosenbaum's recent writing. I love it because I feel that Revver and Magnify are indeed doing that. I love Rosenbaum's phrase 'video is simply frozen knowledge'. It captures what it means to me.
I uploaded my 400th video on Revver tonight. My earnings have slowed right down. I began to wonder last week, why I still bothered with it. I guess it is about the freezing of my knowledge and what I see in the world. I like that I can write a blog and take a video and put it online. I like that I can refer others if they are interested to have a look. I do it for me and I know that many others are doing for themselves and it will create a mass of information that could be useful.
When I read this article it felt truthful.

The Road Less Travelled

Click to Play

This road is between Omeo and the Snowy River Road in Victoria. It was a beautiful part of the world

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi)

Tags: omeo, road, dusty, dry, dirt

How 'Australia's Got Talent' treats Jack Dan

Jack Dan Blake was no doubt pleased when he got to be on new TV show 'Australia's Got Talent'. He was featured in the promotions for the up and coming show as seen on this YouTube clip.

In front of a live studio audience his performance seemed to go well. This is a clip of how it seemed that night.

This is what was shown on TV on Sunday night. Editing changes everything. So what do you think of that?

Jaman - Future for Indie Films?

Jaman is according to its site

"Jaman is a new online community for people that enjoy world
cinema. For filmmakers, jaman is a global and secure way of distributing
cinematic quality films and documentaries over the Internet. "

There are some good offerings on the site. Different countries have licencing restrictions and there are free downloads and rentals as well as fees associated with some of these services. It is in beta. There are currently 2 Australian films, Siam Sunset and 15 Amore. I have seen Siam Sunset and enjoyed it. It is a black comedy with fantasy and escapism. Some great scenery. I loved what it said about colour.

I have yet to see 15 Amore, but can't access it via this site. It looks great. There is a preview that can be viewed.

There are forums and groups where users can discuss the films they view. I think this is an amazing resource for film lovers. I live in regional Australia and it is very rare for independant film to make it's way to our local cinema. The video stores don't always stock them either. Websites like this will allow all to enjoy the choice.

Tropfest Finalists Screenings

The Tropfest finalist short films will be shown around the country tomorrow night. Tropfest is the worlds largest short film festival. The signature item for this year is the sneeze. In Melbourne the event will stage at the Myer Music Bowl. In Gippsland it can be seen at the Yarram Theatre. All other states and regional information is available on the Tropfest website.

To watch previous films go to the following link: Tropfest finalist films, or order copies here.

New Magnify Channels - February 2007

Magnify are exploding with channels now. Each time I check in, there are new ones. Here are new channels worth checking out:

Movies
Public Domain Movies - Only 22 movies today, but potentially an interesting site, particularly for those who like old movies.
Some of them run for over an hour and I haven't watched them right through yet. Interesting concept though.




The TV Trail
Runs with a similar concept but I have a feeling these shows are not public domain. The Simpsons, Six Million Dollar Man and Twilight Zone are some of the shows featured on the home page of the channel.

I notice that many have created channels that so far contain nothing. I guess, Magnify is getting a lot of media right now and people are just staking claims, so to speak, creating their own spaces within this space with hopes for the future.

It is a space to watch.
The falling brick channel received over 500 views today. That's great! There is an interesting clip that was submitted today about the classic Australian delicacy of Tim Tams. Called 'Slam', it is interesting and whilst it runs a little long, is worth a watch.

Coming Soon to Movies: Starter for 10

Starter for 10, which has not yet been released has a sountrack featuring Kate Bush. It was produced by Tom Hanks. It sounds great. Set in England and meant for people who grew up in the 80s. Me!

Good News for Magnify.net

I am pleased to read "Magnify.net raises $1.2 Million". I have found the people at Magnify to be really helpful and I love what they are doing. It is great to be able to create your own channel and they just keep adding features. It is fun to use and the team are supportive and helpful if you have any issues. What more can users ask for?

Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks

My daughter introduced the Dixie Chicks to me. They are great. A good clip too. Enjoy!

Three Dollars

I watched 'Three Dollars' for the second time this week. I love this film. The central character, Eddie, is such a compassionate person and his suffering hurts. I cried during the railway station scene, knowing this is how we behave in public as humans, inhumanely. I love the way Eddie treats others.

Another great Australian film that many have never heard of!

Snowy River Road via Suggan Buggan

Click to Play

Picturesque road to Jindabyne along Snowy River, via Suggan Buggan.        

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi)

Tags: road, travel, australia, mountains, view, suggan buggan, snowy river, jindabyne